Social media and accessibility

Presented at 2:15pm in Matchless on Thursday, January 1, 2022.

#34137

Speaker(s)

  • Gian Wild, Ms, AccessibilityOz

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 1-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: Beginner
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Gian Wild goes through the accessibility issues of each of the six main social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn) and discusses ways that you can make sure your social media content is accessible.

Abstract

Social media accessibility is an incredibly important tool in modern society. It is not just the young who access social media, with 40% of people over the age of 65 interacting on social networking sites, and almost 70% of people aged 50 to 64. As the percentage of recruiters who use LinkedIn is now 95%, social media is becoming an essential part of negotiating the current working environment. The main reason why social media is not accessible is that social networking sites and apps are almost continually refreshed. Facebook sometimes changes twice a day. This, coupled with a lack of a formal testing process, means that what may be accessible today may be literally gone tomorrow. Gian Wild goes through the accessibility issues of each of the six main social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn) and discusses ways that you can make sure your social media content is accessible.

Keypoints

  1. Social media is not accessible
  2. How the various social media networks fail at accessibility
  3. Accessibility tips for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Other, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Gian Wild

Gian works in the area of web accessibility: making sure web sites and mobile apps can be used by people with disabilities. She spent six years contributing to the international set of web accessibility guidelines used around the world and is also the CEO and Founder of AccessibilityOz. With offices in Australia and the United States, AccessibilityOz has been operating for five years. Its clients include the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Optus, Seek and Foxtel. A 2017 Australian of the Year award nominee, Gian splits her time between Australia the US. A regular speaker at conferences around the world, in 2015 she presented to the United Nations on the importance of web accessibility at the Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.